DESIGNED FOR STYLE, ENGINEERED FOR COMFORT

It’s not incredibly difficult to make a shoe comfortable, but to make one comfortable and beautiful–that’s another matter entirely. The following is a summary of just some of the techniques and materials that go into making ANYI LU Couture Comfort® shoes look and feel the way they do.

It’s unfortunate that to love shoes often means to endure discomfort or worse. Heels are high and thin while toe boxes are shallow and narrow resulting in squeezed metatarsals, bunions and foot pain.

PORON® FOAM CUSHIONS EVERY ANYI LU SHOE

Developed by NASA for impact cushioning, PORON® memory foam makes for a customized, total contact fit which provides excellent shock absorption to help comfort joints and soft tissue. The unique properties of Poron Cushioning allow this material to continually rebound to its original form, so you get a custom fit during each use.

PORON® cushioning lines every insole of ANYI LU shoes, ensuring even pressure distribution and all day comfort and stability.

“Technology has revolutionized the way I design.”

Anyi Lu

INSET TRACTION PAD IS FUNCTIONAL WITHOUT SACRIFICING STYLE

During the summer of 2004 at the start of the ANYI LU business, Anyi slipped down her wooden staircase while pregnant due to the hard leather bottoms of her shoes. Thankfully she and the baby were fine, and the incident ensured every shoe design from then on included proper traction. While we still use polished Cuoio leather for our soles, most styles include an injection-molded rubber traction pad. Rather than glued on, our traction pad is fused to the leather which prevents slipping and adds to the longevity of the shoe.

SACCHETTO CONSTRUCTION CREATES A GLOVE-LIKE FIT

Italian for “little bag,” sacchetto construction is a rare old-world shoemaking art practiced by only a few factories in Italy. It requires the painstaking technique of hand-stitching the lining and the insole together and then sewing the whole piece to the upper before shaping on a last for days. Much like the process of wearing two socks while hiking to avoid blisters, the inner sock molds to the foot and moves independently from the outer shoe leather allowing for an unparalleled fit.

Select styles of ANYI LU shoes are sewn using a unique type of sacchetto construction, which offers unmatched flexibility and a supportive fit that cradles the foot in comfort.

“It’s all sewn together like a sock, so the whole shoe is a sock attached to a sole.”

Traditional materials such as heavy rubber lack give, wear down too quickly and can cause foot fatigue. Therefore, Anyi sources various high performance materials to make her shoes lighter, cushier and longer-lasting.

Vibram was originally designed in the 1930’s for mountaineering and continues to be used for specialized sporting footwear.

XL Extralight, another resilient sole material, is currently also used by the automotive and marine industries for shock absorption.

And MICRO, which makes up our wedge heels, is a material injected with hundreds of bubbles for reduced weight and increased give.

UP TO 25 ROUNDS OF FIT TESTING ENSURES A MORE COMFORTABLE FIT FOR MORE WOMEN

It’s no secret that most couture women’s footwear brands prioritize fit far below aesthetics. Most designers are in fact men who have never spent a day in their own creations. This results in few resources going towards fit testing. We use eight to ten foot models and up to 25 rounds of testing to ensure every shoe is as comfortable as possible. Many shoes never make the collection because if it isn’t perfect, it doesn’t get produced.

ONLY HAND-PICKED, HIGHEST QUALITY, SUPPLE ITALIAN LEATHERS WILL DO

We painstakingly hand-select each one of our leathers from the top ten tanneries in Italy. Commonly used synthetic linings cannot breathe and cause the foot to sweat resulting in blisters and irritation. Therefore, we fully line each shoe in highly breathable Italian Nappa leather. There is never a need to break in the shoes, even our patents, as our leathers are soft and stretchy creating a custom like-fit.

“We focus on fit, ANYI LU Couture Comfort®. If we can’t make the shoe perfect, we won’t make the shoe at all.”

ANYI LU FIT– A COMPLETELY UNIQUE COMFORT CONSTRUCTION

While every ANYI LU shoe is completely unique in the marketplace, some styles have the unique ANYI LU fit construction making them truly innovations. The ANYI LU Fit is a style of construction that combines a hand-sewn “sock” and an elastic shoe collar which conforms to the foot for superior comfort and wearability.